8 dead at Florida nursing home without AC after Irma, others evacuated

Eight Hollywood nursing home residents died Wednesday morning in a building left without air conditioning after Irma roared through South Florida, according to Hollywood police and the city.

The home is directly across from a hospital.

Hollywood police have begun a criminal investigation into the deaths at the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, 1200 N. 35th Ave. while the Agency for Health Care Administration and Department of Children & Families have begun their own investigations. Hollywood Police Chief Tom Sanchez said precautionary checks would be done on Hollywood’s 42 other nursing homes.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared in a statement, “I’m going to aggressively demand answers on how this tragic event took place. Although the details of these reported deaths are still under investigation, this situation is unfathomable.”

Another part of the release from Scott’s office stated:

“The Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills is responsible for the safety of their patients. Department of Health officials have been in contact with Larkin Community Hospital Behavioral Health Services management and the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills over the past three days. Hospital administrators were advised to call 911 if they had any reason to believe that the health or safety of patients was at risk.

Tuesday afternoon, the center reported to AHCA that it had power and access to fans and spot coolers provided by Memorial Healthcare.”

Like many places in South Florida, the nursing home has been without power since being whipped by tropical storm-force winds with hurricane gusts on the edge of Hurricane Irma. The Florida Health Care Association said Wednesday 150 of 700 nusring home facilities around the state didn’t have full power.

Miami’s Mike Carvelli, whose mother is at The Rehabilitation Center, said his brother was there earlier this week and found it “a little warm, but not uncomfortable” and there were portable air conditioning units in use. Kitchen worker Jean Lindor said the center had power from a generator to cook meals, but no air conditioning.

With the assistance of Memorial Healthcare — Memorial Regional Hospital sits across the street — officers and firefighters evacuated 115 people from the center. Concerned family members can call 954-265-3000 to check on their relatives.

Flora Mitchell, a 61-year-old Hollywood resident, came down to the center to find her sister around noon Wednesday. Sweat dripping from her forehead, she said she’d been trying to get information from first responders to no avail. She said her 58-year-old sister, who can’t talk or walk, has been there 10 years.

“This is an inexcusable tragedy that frail patients would die of heat exhaustion without it being recognized and taking them to the hospital next door,” read a statement from U.S. Senator Bill Nelson. “I have spoken with the Secretary of Health and Human Services to get to the bottom of this. We need to make sure we’re doing everything we can to keep our seniors safe during this difficult time.”

Three of Wednesday’s eight deaths occurred at the nursing home. One resident already was dead when police got a call about someone having a heart attack. Sanchez said that call came in at either 4 a.m. or 6:25 a.m., but the hospital started moving patients at 7:15 a.m.

“It’s extremely hot on the second floor of the facility,” Sanchez said, but wouldn’t specify if any of the eight victims lived on the second floor of the two-floor building.

The National Weather Service’s tracking in Hollywood put the temperature at 80 to 82 degrees overnight with a heat index of 85 to 90 after a Tuesday afternoon high temperature of 90 and a peak heat index of 99.

At least one lawsuit alleging negligence by the Rehabilitation Center is pending. The 2016 suit alleges “the staff and employees failed to develop a proper care plan and properly monitor and supervise the care and treatment provided to Lillian Fuller in order to prevent her from suffering the development and deterioration of infections and sepsis and suffering the development and deterioration of dehydration.”

Fuller, 71, no longer lives at the center.

The state corporate registration for the Rehabilitation Center at Hollywood Hills, LLC lists South Miami Dr. Jack Michel — the president, director and agent of Larkin Community Hospital — as the company’s manager.

While a nursing home has been at that location nearly 50 years, the Rehabilitation Center’s name and registration are only two years old. Larkin bought what was then called Hollywood Hills Nursing Home and Hollywood Pavilion Hospital in a 2015 bankruptcy auction after fallout from Medicare fraud convictions sunk both facilities.

As Florida Gov Rick Scott warned of a life-threatening storm surge headed for the Florida Keys, the Miami area was beginning to feel the effects of the approaching Hurricane Irma late on September 9. This footage, shot in Hollywood, to the north o McClatchyTwitter/Yossikudan via Storyful